Reel stand



Dec. 23, 1958 H. L. WOELLNER 2,865,576

REEL STAND Filed May 9, 1956 FIG? 7 I51 1 W .33 2 a Iii /esu 35 4 5\//I\ Q Ilh l /Nl N7'0R A TTORNEV REEL STAND Horst L, Woellner,fiuffalo, Y., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 9, 1956, SerialNo. 583,730

Claims. (Cl. 24278.7)

This invention relates to reel stands and particularly to standsutilizing rollers for rotatably supporting a reel.

Roller-type reel stands have been used heretofore in the cable and wireindustry, but these prior stands are not entirely satisfactory in thatthey are mounted in fixed alignment for use with a particular machineand cannot be used readily with any other apparatus or machine. Inaddition, these reel stands, when used to pay-off strands from a reelto, for example, a wire drawing machine, do not provide adequate controlover the rotation of the reel. This results in an over-run problem whenthe pay-off rate is suddenly reduced as well as a braking problem whenthe reel is to be stopped.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide aroller-type reel stand which may be aligned in various directions foruse with a plurality of associated machines.

It is another object of this invention to control the free rotation ofreels supported on the stands.

According to the general features of the invention, two spaced rollers,on which the reels are supported for rotary motion, are mounted on adrop frame which in turn is supported on a circular track and may berotated thereupon for aligning the reels as required for a particularmachine. A drag brake prevents over-running of a reel on the rollerswhen the pay-01f rate is suddenly reduced and an externally controlledbrake is actuable to stop rotation of the reel.

'tt s Patent 7 u.

2,865,576 Patented Dec. 23,: 1958 a number of different positions.Before rotating the frame to a-new position, the pin 30 must belifted-to remove the pin from the hole and the frame is then free to berotated.

The circular track 3 is supported on the floor 17 so that reels maysimply be rolled onto the rollers'5 and 6. Flanges 18 are provided onthe ends of the rollers so that the reels will be positionedtherebetween' and an angle iron'stop member: 19, extending betweenendpor- These and other features of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a reel stand incorporating the features of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a partial view of Fig. l as seen along the plane of line 2-2;and

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view in reduced scale showing a reelsupported on the device of Fig. 1.

As seen in the drawing, reel supporting rollers 5 and 6 are rotatablymounted in spaced parallel relation by means of bearings 4 on lowerhorizontal portions 10 of drop frame members 7 and 8. The drop framemembers 7 and 8 are substantially U-shaped and are reinforced withtriangular braces 2 welded between the vertical portions 9 and the lowerhorizontal portions 10 thereof and transverse angle iron bracing members12 and 13 welded between the vertical portions 9 of the members 7 and 8.The upper horizontal ends 15 of the members 7 and 8 are provided withslide blocks 16 which contact a circular steel track 3, secured to theedge of a circular hole in the floor 17, to facilitate rotating the dropframe structure thereupon. To align a reel on the rollers 90 degreeswith respect to that shown in Fig. 1, the drop frame is simply rotatedon the track 3 until the members 7 and 8 are aligned as shown in dashedlines. A locking pin 30, slidably mounted in the of holes 31 in thetrack 3 to lock the frame in any of tions 15 on the back side of thestand, keeps them from rolling through the stand when they are loadedthereon. Inclined guide members 20 and 21 are provided on the bracingmember 12 on the entrance end of the stand in order to guide the reelsbetween flanges 18 of the rollers.

An adjustable drag or friction brake 23 supported from bracing member 12is provided for engaging a drum 24 on the shaft 25 of the roller 5 toprevent over-run of a reel 26 on the rollers when the rate of payingwire off the reel is suddenly reduced. The drag produced by this brakemay be adjusted by tightening or loosening nut 33 which changes thetension of the spring 34 on the brake band 35. In addition to the dragbrake which keeps a reel on the rollers from running free, a conven- Itional solenoid-controlled brake 27 on a support member 36 permitslocking the shaft for roller 6 against rotation to prevent rotating areel 26 thereon. This solenoidcontrolled brake may be actuated from aremote position by a switch 28 in the energizing circuit for thesolenoid thereof.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrange ments may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallWithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A reel stand comprising a circular support track adapted to besecured to the edge of a circular hole in a floor, a frame, having acentral depressed portion, slidably supported on the circular track sothat the depressed portion is located within the hole, a pair ofrollers, and means for rotatably supporting the rollers in spacedparallel relation on the depressed portion of the frame for rotatablysupporting a reel at substantially floor level thereon.

2. A reel stand comprising a circular support track adapted to besecured to the edge of a circular hole in a floor, a frame, having acentral depressed portion, slidably supported on the circular track sothat the depressed portion is located within the hole, a pair ofrollers, means for rotatably supporting the rollers in spaced parallelrelation on the depressed portion of the frame for rotatably supportinga reel, at substantially fioor level thereon, and means for selectivelystopping the rotation of the rollers.

3. A pay-off reel stand comprising a circular support track adapted tobe secured to the edge of a circular hole in a floor, a frame, having acentral depressed portion, slidably supported on the circular track sothat the depressed portion is located within the hole, a pair ofrollers, means for rotatably supporting the rollers in spaced parallelrelation on the depressed portion of the frame for rotatably supportinga reel at substantially floor level thereon, drag braking means for therollers to prevent over-run of a reel supported thereon, and means forselectively stopping the rotation of the rollers.

4. A pay-off reel stand comprising a circular support track adapted tobe secured to the edge of a circular hole in a floor, a frame having acentral depressed portion, means for slidably supporting the frame onthe circular track so that the depressed portion is located within thehole, a pair of rollers having annular flanges extending from theirends, means for rotatably supporting thev rollers in spaced parallelrelation on the depressed portion of the frame for rotatably supportinga reel between the flanges thereon, guide members on one end of theframe for aligning a reel with the rollers, and a stop member on theother end of the frame for stopping a reel on the rollers.

5. A reel stand according to claim 1 in which the frame comprises a pairof paralle1,spaced-apart, U- shaped members having ends extendinghorizontally therefrom for making sliding engagement with the circulartrack and a pair of transverse bracing members connected between theU-shaped members, said rollers being mounted transversely between theU-shaped members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS830,285 Bechman Sept. 4, 1906 1,984,744 Hood Dec. 18, 1934 1,995,722Smith Mar. 26, 1935 2,020,889 Hofer Nov. 12, 1935 2,352,959 Littell July4, 1944 2,585,859 Showalter Feb. 12, 1952

